1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a socket assembly for an integrated circuit (IC) chip, more particularly to a base body of the socket assembly which facilitates manufacturing of the socket assembly and a terminal employed in the base body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional socket assembly for an IC chip is shown to comprise a base body 1, a chip mounting plate 3 mounted on the base body 1, and an actuating lever 4 associated with the base body 1 and the mounting plate 3 for moving the latter slidingly on the former. The base body has a top surface 12, a bottom surface 13 and a plurality of terminal-receiving holes 11 formed therethrough for receiving pins of an IC chip which is to be mounted on the chip mounting plate 3 thereon, and a plurality of terminals 2 mounted respectively in the terminal-receiving holes 11 of the base body 1. The mounting plate 3 is provided with a plurality of through-holes 31 which correspond to the terminal-receiving holes 11 of the base body 1.
Referring to FIG. 2, the terminal 2 is shown to include a flat body portion 20, a vertical head portion 22 which is formed integrally with the flat body portion 20 and which projects upwardly therefrom, and a vertical leg portion 21 which is formed integrally with and which extends downwardly from the flat body portion 20. The vertical head portion 22 is provided with a curved contact portion 23.
Referring to FIG. 3(A), an IC chip 5 is mounted on the mounting plate 3 such that the pins 51 of the same extend into the terminal-receiving holes 11 of the base body 1 via the through-holes 31 of the mounting plate 3. Note that it is easy to insert the pins 51 of the IC chip 5 when the actuating lever 4 is at a vertical position. The actuating lever 4 can be pivoted in the direction indicated by the arrow "A" relative to the base body 1, as shown in FIG. 3(B), so that the pins 51 of the IC chip 5 will be moved in the terminal-receiving holes 11 to contact the curved contact portion 23 of the terminals 2.
Since the transverse width of the vertical head portion 22 of the conventional terminal 2 is greater than that of the body 20 and the vertical leg portion 21 thereof, the top edge of the head portion 22 of the terminals 2 should be substantially parallel to the top surface 12 of the base body 1. The terminals 2 are inserted into the terminal-receiving holes 11 from the top surface 12 of the base body 1, thereby resulting in a more complicated manufacturing process. It is noted that the terminals 2 are usually connected to a runner (not shown) prior to assembly. If the terminals 2 are to be inserted from the top surface 12 of the base body 1, the runner interconnects the head portions 22 of the terminals 2, making it inconvenient to remove the runner after inserting the terminals 2 in the base body 1. In addition, a special tool is needed to insert the terminals 2 from the top surface 12 of the base body 1 since the terminal inserting tools commonly employed in other conventional socket assemblies are capable of inserting terminals 2 only from the bottom surface of the base body.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a terminal which can be inserted into the base body from the bottom surface of the base body, i.e. the head portion of the terminal is inserted first in the receiving hole so as to increase the production efficiency of the socket assembly.
It is further noted that, since the terminal 2 is provided with very few flexible portions, the terminal 2 should be made of a material with good resiliency so as to provide a sufficient biasing action, thereby increasing the cost of production.
Therefore, it would be appreciated if a terminal which has good biasing properties while utilizing a cheaper material can be developed so as to reduce the production cost.